Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cookies on Toast (and the Dalai Lama)

Remember the speculoos spread craze from the PPK? A while back, everyone was raving about this spread made from European speculoos cookies. Lotus makes it, and they sell it in jars like peanut butter. But it's not available in Memphis, as far as I can tell. Thankfully, Mihl of Seitan Is My Motor developed her own recipe for making a similar spread at home using Speculoos or Biscoff cookies (or biscuits, as they say in Europe).

Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't think I could find those cookies around here either. But Poopie Bitch sent me an urgent text message alerting me that she'd found Biscoff (the American name for Speculoos biscuits) at both Kroger and Walgreens! I rushed to the nearest Walgreens and bought a pack for $2.50!

Then I came home and whipped up Mihl'sSpeculoos Spread. I've been enjoying it on whole wheat toast for breakfast everyday this week:

Imagine spreading buttery cookies all over toast. Sounds like heaven, right? This stuff is so amazing. I made a few changes to Mihl's recipe. She calls for one-fourth cup of coconut oil, but I only used 2 tablespoons (along with 4 tablespoons of water). Even though coconut oil is good fat, I couldn't bring myself to use that much since the cookies contain some fat too.

I enjoyed the toast with a couple slices of smoky Tempeh Bacon, a recipe from my cookbook:

Until yesterday, I was certain that speculoos spread was the highlight of my week. But a miraculous thing happened yesterday. The Dalai-freakin'-Lama touched my lip ring! Seriously.

He was in town to accept the International Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Since I work for the alt-weekly (the Memphis Flyer), I was allowed to sit in on a media Q&A with the Dalai Lama before the ceremony. As he was leaving the session, he stopped to shake hands with a few media folks who were reaching out to touch him.

I was sitting at the end of a row. As he started to walk past me, he suddenly stopped and looked at my lip stud. Then he lightly grabbed it, wiggled it, and laughed to himself. Then he walked on. It was so unexpected and really amazing. I feel blessed! Here's a picture of me and the Dalai Lama after he pulled his hand away. You can see how totally giddy I am:

Great post Bianca. My husband who is European told mea few weeks ago about those cookies that he knows for sure are vegan but I did not make the link between that and Mihl's post.I saw some last week for 1 20 euro so I will pick a pack up and work on the spread with less fat of course. That pic of you with the Dalai Lama is priceless.

I am glad you liked the spread. First I wondered why it looked so different from mine, but then I got it. It must be because of the water you used. I know there is much fat in that recipe and I usually don't use that much, but it is important for both the texture and creamyness (to make it like the original). I am glad your lower fat version worked out as well and thank you for trying the recipe.

that is so awesome on the Dalai Lama! wow! i love the picture - it made me smile so much!

hoooooooray for some damn fine speculoos spread! your tempeh bacon looks deeeeeelish, too! we make your tempeh bacon just about every other week - we even freeze some so we can have it on hand when the craving for tempeh bacon awesomeness strikes. it's the best tempeh bacon recipe. hands down!

and i can't believe there's a spread made of cookies. i usually cut back on oils too in recipes, but i've read so much about how coconut oil increases your metabolism (i think by like 50%!) that i never decrease it in recipes because i feel like that more than makes up for it, and it's so freaking good. haha

!!! I don't often see the Dalai Lama on blogs I follow, so I'm kind of speechless. That photo is a treasure - what an experience! Also, you get major vegan points for doing a post with the Dalai Lama as the second act to vegan cookies :)

I've got a jar of the speculoos spread in the cupboard but i was excited to see Mihl's recipe when she posted it because it cost so freakin much to import the jar and the cookies are quite readily available here!!

That's awesome that the Dalai Lama touched your lip ring, I wouldn't know quite how to react to that I don't think!

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm an 11-year vegan, 21-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.